Victoria Gold’s (VIT-V) goal of turning its Eagle Gold project into the Yukon’s next gold mine has moved closer to realization.
The Yukon Environmental and Socio-Economic Assessment Board has finished an environmental assessment of the project and recommended that the federal government allow the project to move ahead.
The recommendation means the company can start the next project phase.
Victoria says that the two-year assessment process was aided by a comprehensive co-operation and benefits agreement with the First Nation of Na-cho Nyak Dun.
The next step in the permitting process is for the Yukon government to issue a quartz-mining licence. Once this is received, construction can begin.
Victoria has been busy for the past 12 months assembling its project build team and discussing advanced negotiations for project financing. The company aims to begin construction this year.
“Financing could becoming the largest hurdle facing the Eagle project, as permitting advances,” John Hayes, an analyst with BMO Capital Markets, writes in a research note. BMO has Victoria rated as “market perform.”
Victoria’s feasibility study from the beginning of last year pegged capital expenditure at $430 million. It is looking to raise a good portion of that capital — between $210 million to $260 million — through debt financing. The rest could come from various sources, including royalties, forward sales, convertible debt or equity.
The Eagle Gold deposit is part of Victoria’s Dublin Gulch property in the central Yukon, 375 km north of Whitehorse. The property stretches for 650 sq. km with year-round road access, and it’s within the territory’s electrical grid.
Eagle Gold has probable reserves of 92 million tonnes grading 0.78 gram gold for 2.3 million oz. Indicated resources stand at 222 million tonnes grading 0.68 gram gold for 4.9 million oz. gold, which includes probable reserves. There are an additional 78 million tonnes in the inferred category grading 0.60 gram gold for 1.5 million oz. gold.
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